


by my side

by tiedbows



Category: Given (Manga), Given - All Media Types
Genre: Birthday Fluff, Boys In Love, Developing Relationship, Domestic Boyfriends, Established Relationship, M/M, Mafuyu and Uenoyama are mentioned, Some manga spoilers, happy birthday Akihiko!!, set months after chapters 28 and 29, with some spice thrown in
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-22
Updated: 2019-10-22
Packaged: 2020-12-28 14:20:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,629
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21138104
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tiedbows/pseuds/tiedbows
Summary: It's Akihiko's birthday, and Haruki has an important gift.





	by my side

**Author's Note:**

> we really need to get our fandom tagging act together y'all lmao 
> 
> thanks to sana always for her constant encouragement and yelling at me for staying up til 4am finishing this  
yes akihiko's birthday was yesterday, no i have no stopped celebrating

Akihiko never liked celebrating his birthday. Years of growing up in a household where his parents used his birthday as an excuse to go party and leave Akihiko to his own devices gradually left him feeling like it didn't really matter as much as his schoolmates made it appear. When he grew older, he thought of his birthday like any other day. 

"Oi, Akihiko, are you almost done in there?" asked a familiar voice. 

Since joining Given, however, things were different. 

"Ah, I'll be right out," he called through the bathroom door. He splashed his face with warm water once more and double checked his reflection to make sure the last trace of the cake frosting was gone. Leave it to Haruki to enact his cake-in-the-face revenge from last year. Luckily, his black t-shirt managed to avoid any serious splatter, and the white flecks sprinkled on his shoulders were easy to wipe away. 

He stepped out of the bathroom and returned to Haruki's living room, only to find his boyfriend cleaning up the last of the dishes to the sink alone. 

"Did Uecchi and Mafuyu leave already?" Akihiko asked, confused by the disappearance of their youngest members. He couldn't have been cleaning up for that long. 

"Uh, yeah, they left just a little bit ago," Haruki replied, walking back to the couch. "It's still a school night for them, and Ue wanted to get Mafuyu home before it got any later." The older man's cheeks turned pink, one hand reaching up to play with the longer ends of his hair loose from his short ponytail. His hair now barely brushed the tops of his shoulders when it was down. 

Akihiko hummed, taking his place next to his boyfriend, left arm draped across the back of the couch behind Haruki. "Those kids," he chuckled. "Still as lovey-dovey as they were a year ago." 

That made Haruki poke his thigh in a playful warning. "Don't ever say that in front of Ue, you'll get him all riled up for sure," he snickered. 

"Our Uecchi is good at getting himself worked up with or without our help." He flashed a grin, which succeeded in making Haruki laugh even more. 

"So did you have a good time today?" He asked Akihiko, eyes bright and focused solely on the blond. Looking at Haruki always felt like staring directly into the sun. 

Akihiko mulled over his day. Since they first became friends a few years ago, Haruki seemed to make it his personal mission to ensure he had an enjoyable birthday. He'd been lucky enough to grow up in a close-knit family who made the most out of every birthday and celebration, and he seemed aghast when informed of Akihiko's childhood. _ You deserve to have some good memories, no matter how old you are! _ he'd said. The previous years so far consisted of treating Akihiko to dinner at their band's favorite barbeque restaurant and buying him a new drum pedal, but this year was different. 

Maybe it's because this was Akihiko's first birthday with them as an official couple. 

This morning, Haruki had made him breakfast before leaving for his morning shift at the café. He wouldn't be on campus that day, so he even made Akihiko a special bento box for lunch. He stared at its contents for a while before eating it, admiring the cute way the rice was shaped into a bear and how his boyfriend somehow managed to form the fried cutlets into squirrel silhouettes, with additional vegetables and fruits arranged into a small forest. It was very Haruki, unexpectedly cheesy and adorable, and just thinking about how much time and effort had gone into making this _for_ _him_ made Akihiko feel overheated. He was grateful that no one else was around in the music room he used for violin practice. 

Later, Given still met up for band practice, but wrapped things up early so the four of them could go have his birthday dinner. Ritsuka and Mafuyu helped foot the bill with Haruki, in addition to their presents: a special edition CD of an American heavy metal band (Mafuyu) and new headphones (Ritsuka).

After nearly eating their weight in grilled meat, the quartet found themselves back at Haruki's apartment for cake, where a portion of it ended up on Akihiko's face. It still tasted good. 

"Mmm, I had a really good time," he confirmed, and turned to face him fully. "Thank you, Haruki. For everything."

"O-oh, you're welcome. Uh, I have a small confession to make," Haruki started, looking shy. "I might have asked Ue and Mafuyu to head out a bit early tonight." 

The blond raised a brow. "Why?" 

"Actually," he fidgeted, a familiar blush creeping onto his cheeks. "There's one more thing I have for you." 

Akihiko shook his head. "You know you didn't have to get me anything. You already did so much for me today," he paused. "Unless you're going to do a sexy dance for me, to which I won't object," he wiggled his brows, flashing a wolfish grin. 

"No!" he squawked. "And those other things don't count, you pervert," Haruki huffed, face completely aflame, and it made Akihiko's smile soften. His watched while his boyfriend reached into the pocket of his cardigan and presented a small rectangular box tied with a green ribbon. 

"This is for you," he said as Akihiko took the box into his hands. It was near weightless in his palm, and he felt his heartbeat pick up just a little as he tugged on the bow. 

"Um, so I'd actually thought about giving this to you for a while now, but I wanted to wait until today because it's your birthday and this is special and _ you're _ special-" 

Haruki's voice was drowned out by the sound of blood rushing in Akihiko's ears the moment he lifted the lid and his widened eyes stared at the glint of metal. He couldn't even make a sound -- he was certain his heart had jumped up into his throat. 

It was a key. 

Haruki's apartment key. 

"-and I mean, you're already over here all the time when you aren't at your place, anyway -- not that it's a bad thing! -- but you're really only here once I let you in or when you come back with me-" 

It was suddenly really hot in the apartment. Akihiko could feel the heat spreading from his core, up his chest and down to his toes. Maybe it was the beer kicking in. 

"-I know you lived with me for a while before, but I really want you to feel like you're welcomed here, and you can be here whenever you want even if I'm not home-" 

Akihiko tore his gaze away from the key to stare at the flushed face of his boyfriend. Nope, it definitely wasn't the beer making him feel this way. 

"-the point is I love you and I want you to feel like this can be your home too. But it's okay if you don't want it; I'll understand." 

Fuck. How did he get so lucky. 

"... Um, Akihiko? Are you okay? Can you please-?" 

Haruki made an undignified squeak when he was immediately pulled into a warm embrace. 

"Ah, fuck, you don't know how much I love you, Haru. So much." The words came out slightly muffled from where Akihiko's face was half buried in his shoulder. His squeezed the box in his hand. "Of course I want it. You can't have it back now, it's mine." 

That bit of childishness made laughter bubble out of Haruki, and it was sweeter than any music he had ever heard. 

"Good. Ah, that makes me really happy." His arms tightened around Akihiko, nuzzling the side of his face into short hair. "I love you, too." 

"Oi, I'm so happy I could die," he said close to Haruki's ear, voice turned gravelly. It felt like every single emotion and feeling inside of him was raging up a storm between his ribs. It was overwhelming. "I really want to have sex with you right now," and he pressed a kiss against a sensitive part of that gorgeous neck, right below the ear. 

Haruki jolted in his arms like he had been shocked. "S-shut up! Only you would say something so blunt like that now of all times," he scolded, but didn't make an effort to escape, as he pressed closer to his side instead. 

"I can't help it." Another kiss. "Need to mark you up. Show everyone that you're mine." His teeth grazed the shell of his ear. "You have me wrapped around your finger, Haru." Fingers slipped through long hair, tugging Haruki's head back so their noses barely touched. "Take responsibility," Akihiko whispered. 

He swallowed Haruki's moan as they both surged forward, hungry and eager to consume everything his love was willing to give him. If every birthday could be as good as this one, well, then this was something he could get used to.

It was always easy to guide Haruki's body whenever things became heated. Akihiko may have slept with a fair number of people, but the level of trust and intimacy they had developed in their relationship was unlike anything neither had experienced. He pulled Haruki on top so his knees were on either side of Akihiko's thighs, then slid his hands under thighs as those legs hooked around his waist when Akihiko slowly stood up. He groaned and almost stumbled into the wall when Haruki began nibbling at his collarbone on their way to the bedroom. Akihiko growled when Haruki started grinding their hips together, and after a few more steps they collapsed onto the bed, tangled in each other. 

Somewhere on the living room floor, the key lay abandoned, but not forgotten. 

**Author's Note:**

> yell about given with me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/tiedbows)


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